Mekong River is another one of those places we've been meaning to try, but never quite made it. Last week we swung in for carryout.
The first impression is that it's your typical Asian restaurant. Nothing fancy, just a modestly furnished and decorated casual restaurant.
When you look at the menu, the first thing that jumps out at you is the variety of Cambodian and Thai dishes available. Filled with a combination of meat, shrimp, and vegetarian dishes, Mekong offers a little bit of something for everyone.
We ordered the Nam Chao (2 per order): Fresh wrapped rice paper rolls, stuffed with cucumber, cilantro, lettuce, noodles, carrots, and shrimp. Served with sweet and sour peanut sauce. The peanut sauce, while good, was not the thicker peanut sauce we are used to. The sauce wasn't that spicy, which my wife appreciated.
For dinner we shared the Mango Curry which consisted of fresh mangos, yellow squash, bell peppers, and pineapple, and shrimp. The mangos made the dish. We loved it. We also ordered a side of the Pineapple Fried Rice: Shrimp, chicken, eggs, snow peas, green peas and pineapple. Next time we're going to order separately since I have an affinity for all that is spicy and my wife does not (these were not spicy).
Specializing in Cambodian and Thai, Mekong River has a good representation of dishes from both cuisines. I think what I like the most is that the menu isn't overambitious. There aren't nine million items on the menu that are average in execution. They have a wide enough representation without being too limited. Our experience certainly warrants another visit.
Mekong River
1918 Lee Rd
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
(216) 371-9575
www.mekongriver-cleveland.com
Loved going to the place when I lived on the East Side. Found the heat in the dishes to be random--sometimes super hot, sometimes pretty mild, but really enjoyed eating there and grabbing a bottle or three of Tsingtao.
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